SR 04-26-2016 3E
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 26, 2016
Agenda Item: 3.E
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Karen Ginsberg, Director, Community & Cultural Services, Human Services
Subject: Award Contract for Homeless Multi-Disciplinary Street Team
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Award RFP# 71 to Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC), a California-based
nonprofit organization, to develop and operate a Homeless Multidisciplinary
Street Team.
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with OPCC
in an amount not to exceed $600,000 for a one-year period.
Executive Summary
to effectively engage the complex needs of chronically homeless individuals. The
Homeless Multidisciplinary Street Team would provide field-based medical and
behavioral health treatment to an initial cohort of 20-25 unsheltered adults who have
been identified as the highest utilizers of City emergency services. The Homeless
Multidisciplinary Street Team would complement existing services while piloting an
population.
Through a competitive bid process, one proposal was received. Staff is recommending
awarding the project to OPCC to implement and operate the Multidisciplinary Street
Team as a proof-of-concept at a cost of $600,000
Background
Homelessness has long been identified as an area of concern in Santa Monica. For
decades, the City has invested in creative solutions to address this complex issue.
Guided by the Action Plan to Address Homelessness, housing and services have been
prioritized to the most vulnerable, visible, and chronically homeless individuals in the
community. which
emphasizes flexible delivery of services in a way that reaches people wherever they
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are. The traditional forms of street outreach have evolved from simple engagement by
peers or advocates into sophisticated and medically/clinically trained teams that can
provide field-based assessments and treatments.
One example of this, Street Medicine, is a rapidly evolving best practice, which delivers
quality medical care directly to people living on the streets through mobile services.
Popularized by the work of Pennsylvania-
Street Medicine delivers compassionate, accessible, and cost-effective treatment to
individuals who otherwise cannot or do not receive care until they are admitted to
emergency rooms and hospitals. Street Medicine programs throughout the country have
expanded to include mental health and substance abuse interventions in addition to
emergency room visits.
In 2004, the City formed the Chronic Homeless Project (CHP), which prioritizes
intensive field-based services to a group of individuals who have been homeless in
Santa Monica for a period of years, who are the most visible in the community and may
be high users of police, paramedic and emergency room resources. The CHP
approach incorporates the knowledge and expertise of dozens of interagency partners
priority population.
Another program that has yielded successful results is the Integrated Mobile Health
Team (IMHT), an innovative treatment model combining the efforts of the County
Department of Mental Health, OPCC, Venice Family Clinic, and St. Joseph Center.
IMHT focuses on placing vulnerable individuals in housing first, then surrounding them
with the supportive services necessary to promote wellbeing and housing retention. A
multidisciplinary staff provides mental health, physical health, and substance abuse
services in the st
chronically homeless individuals.
Discussion
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On August 23, 2015 (Attachment A), the City Council convened a special Council
developed by the citywide leadership team. One of the emerging Strategic Goals was
taking a leadership role in regional efforts to address homelessness.
On October 27, 2015 (Attachment B), staff recommended appropriating $5.1 million of
one-time General Fund savings for projects that will produce measurable results in
-time allocation of
$600,000 to implement a Homeless Multidisciplinary Street Team. This team would
build upon the successful assertive case management model utilized by the CHP Team
and the comprehensive medical and behavioral health approach used by IMHT to
address the changing characteristics of the homeless community in the City.
Tsuccessfully housed many of
the Action Plan to
Address Homelessness, and helped reduce homelessness overall by 20% since 2009.
However, data from the 2016 Homeless Count continues a trend of increasing
unsheltered, or street homelessness, and describes a changing profile of Santa
, which is comprised of people who have been homeless
for long periods of time, but who are newly arrived in Santa Monica. In a recent survey
of 133 homeless individuals, 62% report having been homeless for more than one year.
The majority, 55%, report being in Santa Monica for less than one year. In addition,
nearly half (44%) of survey respondents said they do not receive services from any of
the local agencies, despite a high prevalence of self-reported mental illness, substance
use, and medical problems. This small sample supports data collected by the Police
and Fire Departments, which indicate a disproportionate number of calls for service
among homeless individuals, including 2706 homeless distress responses by the Fire
Department last year
One-time funds of $600,000 would support one year of operation for a caseload of 20-
25 individuals. The caseload would be developed through an interactive process
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incorporating data from Police, Fire, and local hospital emergency departments to
identify the 20-25 highest utilizers of public services. As a proof-of-concept project,
utilizers as demonstrated by reductions in the number of Police and Fire contacts by
these individuals, as well as reduced visits to emergency rooms. Documentation and
tracking of these and other positive outcomes that reduce the impacts of homelessness
would demonstrate a need for on-going funding, which could be a City/County joint
commitment at a similar funding level on an annual basis.
The team would operate five days a week from 7:30am to at least 5:00pm. Daily case
conferencing would allow the team to effectively develop and modify treatment plans.
The interdisciplinary staff would consist of a licensed Program Manager, Physician
Assistant, Substance Abuse Clinician, Clinical Case Manager, Housing Case Manager,
Psychiatrist, Peer Advocate, and Program Evaluator. The team would provide street-
based medical and behavioral health evaluations and treatment, transporting clients to
clinic-based services when necessary. The team would integrate services with the
Collaboration with Police, Fire, and Human Services Division (HSD) would allow the
team to strategically engage clients who have declined traditional services. The team
would be required to achieve and track outcomes including:
Number of police contacts before/after engagement by the street team
Number of emergency department visits before/after engagement by the street
team
Referrals to clinic-based medical, mental health, and substance abuse treatment
Placements in emergency/transitional/permanent housing
Results from the one-year pilot would inform future program and funding decisions,
including whether to make an ongoing commitment to this service, either as a city or in
partnership with other public agencies such as the City and/or County of Los Angeles.
Vendor Selection
On February 12, 2016, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Homeless
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in accordance with the City Charter and Municipal Code provisions. FY2015-19 Human
Services Grants Program (HSGP) grantee agencies and the Westside Coalition were
notified via e-mail. Nine prospective vendors downloaded and viewed the RFP. One
proposal was received. HSD staff contacted vendors that did not elect to submit a
proposal. Four of the vendors responded, and all indicated that they did not feel like the
scope of work was a good fit for their resources, including two that are City-funded
agencies.
The proposal, from OPCC, was reviewed by staff from HSD, the Police Department, the
Fire Department, and the Library. The proposal was reviewed for competence,
qualification/expertise, staffing capacity, and cost effectiveness. The staff reviewers
found that OPCC has extensive experience providing integrated field-based homeless
services through their IMHT, Multidisciplinary Integrated Team (MIT), and the
Department of Health Services C3 initiative in Skid Row and recommends that they be
selected for these reasons.
OPCC currently receives $1,620,928 annually through the Human Services Grants
Program (HSGP) to operate all -adult emergency housing beds
through four shelter locations (Daybreak, Safe Haven, Turning Point and SAMOSHEL),
e shelter and services (Sojourn and Westside
Domestic Violence Network). They are well equipped to manage additional City funds,
as well as leverage these existing City and non-City funded resources to support the
efforts of the new Multidisciplinary Team.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The contract to be awarded to OPCC is $600,000 in one time funds. One-time funds of
$600,000 are available in the FY 2015-16 budget at account SO015401.589000.
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Prepared By:
Margaret Willis, Administrator
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. October 27, 2015 Staff Report (Web Link)
B. August 23, 2015 Council Minutes (Web Link)
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Reference:
Agreement
No.
10291(CCS)